Pretty Things

The narrator changes to Vanessa. She hates Stonehaven and thinks of the estate as a cruel punishment. She remembers visiting Stonehaven when she was six, and her grandma, a collector of decorative art, told her and her brother that she would spank them if they ran or played games in the house. She and Benny slept in a bedroom with Meissen porcelain birds, and Vanessa took one out, a parrot, and it broke. Vanessa cried and Benny cried, and her mom consoled them. She broke the other parrot (it was part of a pair) so the grandma would not spank her. The two parrots were worth $30,000, and Vanessa believes that her mom thought of her and Benny as precious Meissen birds. Presently, Vanessa compares herself to the demonized Jack Torrance in Stephen King’s novel The Shining (1977).

Vanessa addresses the reader and assumes that they do not like her. They see her on social media and the internet and think she is a wealthy, spoiled person. Nevertheless, she knows that she captivates the reader. The reader—or the kind of person who follows her—wants to feel superior. Though they will not admit it, they are jealous of Vanessa: They want her life.